A mob vandalised and set fire to six houses belonging to Muslims in Dutkaiya village of Chhattisgarh’s Gariaband district on Sunday, leaving at least seven security personnel injured as they tried to protect the residents, The Hindu quoted the police as saying.
The violence followed a series of incidents earlier in the day in which three men – one of whom had been released on bail in a 2024 temple desecration case – allegedly assaulted four persons and robbed two mobile phones, The Indian Express reported.
One of the persons who was assaulted was reportedly a witness in the earlier case about the alleged vandalism of the Chaveshwar Shiva temple in the village, The Hindu reported.
One of the three persons accused of vandalising the temple had been sent to a juvenile correctional centre and later released on bail, the police said. He had reportedly not returned to the village until the early hours of Sunday, when the alleged assaults took place.
The three men were arrested by about 6 pm, The Indian Express reported.
However, tensions escalated when a small group vandalised the home of one of the men allegedly involved in the desecration of the temple, prompting a police team to urge the residents against further provocation, The Hindu reported.
But a larger mob from Dutkaiya and neighbouring villages gathered later in the evening. Armed with sticks, stones, bricks and inflammable material, the crowd allegedly tried to enter the homes of about 10 Muslim families who had locked themselves inside, the newspaper reported.
“The crowd set the vehicles ablaze and demanded that they be allowed to enter the homes of Muslims,” an unidentified police officer told The Hindu. “Not only were we outnumbered but there was a manpower crunch due to the Rajim Kumbh [a religious congregation].”
An unidentified officer told The Indian Express that the mob had hit the police with sticks and “struck our hands, back and head”.
“They broke our helmets and threw stones at our vehicles as well as those of the fire brigade,” the officer added.
The police said that attempts had been made to enter the homes of the Muslim families from adjacent buildings, but the officers held the mob off until reinforcements arrived by 9 pm, after which force was used to disperse the crowd, The Hindu reported.
While about 20 persons were rescued and taken to safety in a bus, a group of six or seven children trapped in a madrasa were later evacuated in a police vehicle.
At least seven police personnel were injured in the operation. One of them suffered a head injury after being hit by a brick allegedly thrown by a woman from the crowd after the situation had largely been brought under control, The Indian Express reported.
Two persons from the Muslim community were also injured, PTI reported.
Two first information reports have been registered in connection with the rioting, according to The Hindu.
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